Risk Management in Hospital Wards: The Case of Blood Procurement and Handling

Blood transfusion is among the most complex healthcare processes including a variety of interrelated sub-processes of different nature. Therefore, it is highly exposed to risks and such a fact is witnessed by the several errors and adverse events occurring every year. Although there is quite a significant body of literature about risk management in transfusion, risks connected with blood product procurement and handling have been scarcely investigated. The present work integrates three risk management tools developed in the project management and manufacturing areas to put forward a structured approach to identify and analyze causes of risks, their manifestations and effects. Its first application to a hospital ward revealed its potential to generate knowledge about blood transfusion uncertainty and the associated criticalities, thus increasing the level of maturity towards risks of healthcare organizations. Future research will refine and extend the approach by applying it to various healthcare settings.